The present disclosure relates generally to polymerization systems, and more particularly, to polymerization systems that include a steam injection system.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of art that may be related to aspects of the present disclosure, which are described below, claimed below, or both. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as admissions of prior art.
Polyolefins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, may be prepared by particle form polymerization, also referred to as slurry polymerization, in a polymerization system. In this technique, feed materials, such as monomer, catalyst, cocatalyst, comonomer, and diluent, are fed to a loop reactor to establish a slurry. In the loop reactor, the slurry is circulated while polymerization occurs, forming product slurry. The product slurry, which contains solid polyolefin particles in a liquid medium, is then taken off or withdrawn from the reactor.
The product slurry may then be sent to a recovery system to separate the solid polyolefin particles from the other components of the product slurry. However, before the product slurry reaches the recovery system, one or more deactivation materials may be injected into the product slurry to deactivate certain components of the product slurry, such as the catalyst, a co-catalyst, other additives, or any combination thereof. Such deactivation may help prevent undesired polymerization from occurring downstream of the loop reactor, which otherwise may cause operational issues within the recovery system. It is now recognized that undesirable issues may be associated with the injection of certain deactivation materials. For example, it is now recognized that injection of certain deactivation materials at high flow rates may lead to operational issues in the recovery system. In addition, it is now recognized that the injection of high flow rates of certain deactivation materials may reduce the overall efficiency of the polymerization system, increase costs associated with the operation of the polymerization system, or both.